Postage stamps or any other rectangular paper or web units separable from one another along perforation lines are available in bulk amounts either in rolls with the stamps joined end-to-end by lateral perforations or in sheets with the stamps joined both end-to-end and side-to-side. This invention concerns the former and in particular it relates to apparatus for accurately and rapidly counting the number of stamps in a roll or in rapidly dividing ("batching") a supply roll into sub-rolls of stamps of an accurate count.
It is not an exaggeration to say that no apparatus heretofore available has the capability of performing these functions automatically at high speed and with virtually absolute accuracy. Postage stamps are commonly sold from dispensing machines in which rolls previously taken from larger rolls are mounted. It is obviously important to know the number of stamps, i.e. the monetary value, in the roll first placed in the dispensing machine and in what remains after some use, so that the cash receipts and the remaining stamps in the machine can be reconciled with the number of stamps originally put in. In this age of high technology it is indeed surprising that there has been no apparatus or method available to postal authorities to do this counting of stamps in rolls. The conventional practice is to do it manually, by having the line of stamps drawn out by hand in short lengths against a measuring rule with a count kept of the number of times such application of lengths to the rule is made. This is so inefficient that heretofore the remaining rolls have been destroyed rather than manually counted and reconciliation of receipts to stamps has been foregone. Furthermore the inability to count large rolls quickly and accurately has compelled acceptance of approximations of bulk amounts.
The problems that have confounded those attempting to design roll-to-roll stamp counters, with or without batching means, are several. Perforation line spacing in stamp strips is far from precise and therefore counting apparatus must not miscount because some stamps are longer or shorter between perforations. Also, if optical counting means are to be relied upon such as light-emitting diodes, the counter must be able to ignore variations in translucency or opacity resulting from different stamp designs between the perforations. Even more importantly a counter must be able to contend with lateral perforation lines which in some cases are sometimes not complete or partially clogged with foreign material, over as much as half the length of the lateral perforation line. Another challenge is how to draw the line of stamps through a counter at high speed without physically damaging the paper of the stamp strip or the design printed thereon.
The present invention provides a device for counting stamps in rolls with speed and extremely high accuracy by bringing together a unique combination of vacuum/pressure drive drum means, perforation sensor and cutting means, automatic self-loading means on the take-up reel, automatic wind-up means after cutting and automatic release after take-up. Variations of some of these means may be found in photocopy equipment, camera roll-up devices, wallpaper printing machines, self-returning reels and cable or expandable collets in machine tools. However they have never been combined as contemplated by the present invention to achieve accurate high speed enumeration and batching of large rolls of stamps where it never before has been possible.